RALEIGH, N.C. – Playing the role of Jaromir Jagr, the Devils' No. 1 comedian, Saturday night in the winning locker room at PNC Arena was a goalie who probably should have been the No. 1 star but didn’t even get third star.

Cory Schneider, spectacular in a 26-save performance, couldn't help himself when given a chance to talk about Dainius Zubrus’ two goals in a 3-1 Devils win that has everybody believing more than ever that they can make the playoffs after being left for dead.

“It’s good to see him back up all that talking!” Schneider said of Zubrus. “He hasn’t stopped talking all year!”

Zubrus laughed when being told about the jab, then said, ‘Schneids too is joining the wagon?”

Indeed. But it’s all in good fun, and the Devils sure have enjoyed winning back-to-back games this weekend to go from five points to one behind Columbus for the final Eastern Conference wild card.

The Devils beat Washington 2-1 at home on Friday despite finishing the game with just eight healthy forwards due to injuries to Patrik Elias, Adam Henrique and Jacob Josefson, and a coaching decision to dress seven defensemen instead of the usual six.

On Saturday, Elias, Henrique and Jacobsen were out, as was left wing Ryane Clowe, who was injured last Monday.

That had the Devils going to battle against the Hurricanes with rookie winger Mike Sislo, back this week from the AHL; Steve Bernier, back in the lineup after some recent healthy scratches; and Stephen Gionta, back after missing three games with an ankle injury.

And with Elias out, Zubrus came up big playing second-line center with Damien Brunner and Michael Ryder on his wings.

A left wing on Jagr and Travis Zajac's top line for most of the season, Zubrus earned his way to a reduced role by going into a massive scoring slump. After Monday’s win over Florida, the 35-year-old Lithuanian was sitting on two goals and four points over his last 38 games.

Zubrus, however, scored the Devils' only goal in their 2-1 shootout loss in Buffalo the next night, then against the Hurricanes added the opening goal 15:33 in the first period and an empty-netter with 38 seconds remaining.

“It’s good to see,” Schneider said of Zubrus, who now has 13 goals and 26 points for the season. “He’s always positive. He works hard. He stays upbeat and gets everybody going. It’s really nice to see him rewarded. He plays all situations and sometimes guys who weren’t playing a big role have to step up. He jumped in and played second-line center, took some big draws and scored two big goals for us.”

Zubrus was expecting a lot of razzing on the plane ride back to New Jersey. He often gets it nonstop from Jagr, and it really picks up when he's had the rare big offensive night.

When Zubrus had his other two-goal game this season in a December win against Tampa Bay, Jagr launched into his act by blaming his streak of four consecutive scoring titles ending because he was put on Zubrus’ line after being traded from Pittsburgh to Washington following the 2000-01 season.

It was on again late Saturday night.

“Zubby’s good natured about it,” Schneider said. “It’s fun to tease him. It can be a quiet room, but with Zubby going, it’s never quiet.”

Zubrus let out another chuckle after hearing that.

“We have a good locker room,” he said. “We have a fun locker room. They tease me, I tease them. We kind of go back and forth.”

A few days ago, the Devils’ locker room wasn’t a fun place with their playoff hopes close to dead. Now, it’s lively again and everyone is believing.

“We’re still in the hunt,” Zubrus said. “We’re still alive. We know the situation we’re in and it’s not kind of easy, but you take one game at a time and hope to win a period, win a game. Hopefully we’ll get there.”